Chapter 11: Overstayed Welcome

Midna stormed down the hallway, each stride radiating the ferocity her mood. The twili barely glanced as she brushed past servants and soldiers alike, the only exception being when she arrived at the fortress gates demanding to see Teryll. Originally the guards had tried to bar her way, but the fury in Midna's eyes and a small spark of black energy quickly melted their resolve. Since then no one dared challenge her.

She approached a set of doors and walked through them without knocking. On the other side, Teryll had been enjoying a light meal and appeared quite shocked to see the shadow woman barging into his office, nearly dropping a piece of hard cheese as a result. "Miss Midna, what a surprise," he said courteously though warily. "To what do I owe this wonderful visit?"

"Cut the pleasantries, Teryll. You know very well why I'm here," the twili replied scornfully.

The nobleman chose an olive and ate it before giving her a puzzled look. "I'm afraid I have no idea what you are referring to," he spoke innocently. "Is something amiss?"

"Don't play dumb. Someone tried to break into our house this morning. Unfortunately for them I set up a little security charm. After dangling upside-down for two hours, he was more than willing to tell me what the hell he was doing there. The guy told me he was looking for anything like spell books and scrolls, as if I'd be stupid enough to leave such things just lying around."

Teryll expression was a blank mask. He popped another morsel into his mouth before returning his gaze to the twili's. "Well it seems to me that you had the situation under control. I'll pass what you've told me to the guards and they will take care of the culprit. I thank you for bringing this to my attention, although I fail to see why you'd think I have any knowledge of the incident."

"Oh, really?" Midna's eyes narrowed. She summoned a sheet of yellowed parchment into her hand and slammed it onto the desk in front of Teryll. "This, in case you're wondering, is a letter the thief was holding, telling him to sneak into our home along with what to look for. It also has instructions for him to go meet someone and bring whatever it was he stole. I followed the directions myself and found one of your soldiers waiting for me."

Teryll opened his mouth to speak but Midna cut him off. "By the way, here's your money back." She withdrew a fat pouch of coins and tossed it onto the paper. "You're men have a lot of discipline, I'll give you that, but they're not very smart. Taking on a high-level sorceress on your own with nothing but a sword is a pretty bad idea in most cases."

The Lord of Greywal rose from his chair and scowled at Midna. "Are you insinuating that I have something to do with this? I can have you thrown in prison such an insult!"

Midna wasn't intimidated by the shorter man in the slightest. "Don't bother with the threats. They won't work even if you have the guts to go through with them. And I'm not insinuating anything, that soldier told me specifically that he was following you're orders. Did you really think we would ever teach our magic to you after pulling a stunt like this?"

"As if you ever intended to do so," Teryll spat. "I showered you and your ilk with hospitality and generosity, yet like the parasites you are you give nothing in return. I need shadow magic to make Greywal stronger. I have tried time and time again to convince you to share your knowledge with me but for naught. Yet a lowly blacksmith becomes crippled and suddenly you're teaching him everything you will. I say no more. That is why I've decided to take matters into my own hands."

"Rion wouldn't have been hurt in the first place if you had done your duty as a leader and did something about all the gangs running around," Midna retorted furiously, jabbing a finger at him. "A ruler must always put their people before themselves, but you don't seem to give a half a fig about yours."

"And what could you possibly know about the responsibilities a ruler?" the fat lord sneered.

Midna gave him an icy glare that made him freeze. "Far more than you than you can ever imagine," she said in a deathly composed manner. The twili then turned and headed towards the door. Before she left, Midna looked to Teryll once more. "From now on you leave us alone. If you or anyone working for you comes near us, I promise you'll regret it." And with that she slammed the door shut and vanished before the lord could form a response.


"So let me get this straight," Link said. "You caught someone trying to break into the house, discovered that he was working for Teryll, then you went to the fortress alone and confronted him?! And you always yell at me for being reckless."

Midna crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "It was hardly reckless. What could that bastard have possibly done to harm me? I can take care of myself."

"I know you can but that's not the point," Link shook his head. "Now that you've gone and made an outright enemy of him we've pretty much lost our citizenship here."

"So what? We should have left this place weeks ago with everything else that's happened."

"You're the one who wanted to stay and see what happened when we figured out what Teryll was after," Link argued.

Midna threw her hands in the air exasperatedly. "That was before one of our friends was attacked in the middle of the night. Plus I didn't seriously think the guy was going to take things this far."

The two circled the dining table at opposite ends while Ilia and Chris watched from the side. Finally the former had had enough. "Knock it off, both of you," Ilia snapped. "What's done is done, but now we have to work out what we're going to do next. You two fighting isn't helping one bit."

Link and Midna looked at the young girl hotly. They then sighed in unison and faced to each other again, both calmer than previously. "Okay, maybe I made a bad call," Midna admitted, shuffling awkwardly. "I'm sorry."

"You should have told us first before charging off by yourself," Link replied evenly. "But it doesn't matter. Either way, Teryll's becoming a lot more aggressive and it's too dangerous for us to stay any longer. I reckon we should start packing up before we end up with an army at our door."

Just as his companions nodded their agreement, a loud banging sounded from the front door. "Open up for the city guard," a voice boomed.

Midna, Ilia and Chris all stared at Link. "Way to jinx it, wolf-boy," the twili remarked with a raised brow. "What else, Ganondorf's going to rise from the dead and destroy the neighbourhood? Somehow that idea doesn't sound so bad right now."

Link ignored her and crept over to the window. He pulled the curtain back a crack and peered through, seeing a large group of heavily armed soldiers filling the street, some of them on horseback. Stationed on rooftops Link could make out various archers aiming right at the house. The young warrior muttered a curse and retreated from the window. "It's not exactly an army but there's a lot of them and they mean business," he told the others. He was uncertain whether he ought to be annoyed or flattered.

Ilia suddenly became alarmed as she cupped her hands to her mouth. "Oh, goddesses. Ana's at Julie's right now!" Her worry and panic was then shared by the rest of the room.

"I'm sure she's fine," Link assured her. "We'll get her, but we need to get rid of these guys first." The door banged once again as he worked furiously to formulate a plan. The voice outside threatened to break down the door if they did not come out and surrender.

"Midna, Ilia, do you think you can hold them off for a bit?" Link said at last.

The twili peeked through the curtains to assess the guard force herself. "Between the two of us, those guys won't be a problem. Those archers might be a different matter though."

"Leave them to me," Link replied. Link was about to run up the stairs when Chris stepped in front of him.

"What can I do?" he asked.

Link paused for a quick second as he thought up an answer. "Give me hand upstairs. Let's see how good your aim is." Chris nodded and together they made haste to the second floor. Once there, Link pulled out his bow and quiver then gestured for Chris to take position in the next room before taking cover by the window. Again Link surveyed the outside, carefully noting the placement of each adversary. Plucking out an arrow, he waited for the opportune moment to make his move.

He heard the sound of banging again followed by the loud cracks of wood snapping. Barely a second later Link saw a wave of darkness flow out into the street, knocking over a good number of knights in the process. In the confusion, Link raised the window using his magic and drew his bow. At his fingers' release, the arrow sailed forward and struck one of the archers below the chest. The unfortunate soul clutched at the wound as his feet gave out then rolled off the roof. Not bothering to see if the man was still alive, Link notched another arrow and fired it at the next archer. From the other side of the landing, dark bursts of energy shot at more of the bowmen. Though not all of the blasts were accurate, they succeeded in startling their intended targets and knocking them from their perches.

Down below, the girls had moved out into the open where they unleashed great havoc. Midna hurled teams of soldiers at once with waves of her hands and sent them hurtling into walls and other objects. Beside the twili, Ilia threw showers of shadowy daggers at her enemies, embedding themselves in gaps in their victims' armor more oft than not. Although Link only saw from the edge of his vision, a third person had joined the fray and struck at the soldiers with something resembling a club. Several of the knights managed to endure the injuries they received and pressed on, only to be put down again shortly after regaining their feet. In the span of a couple of minutes, the entire troop had been crushed with no apparent harm to any of the shadow magicians.

Link scanned the area and was pleased to find that no reinforcements were approaching. Returning his bow and quiver into storage, Link climbed out of the window and dropped to the ground, using levitation to slow his descent. Chris had taken the more conventional method down and emerged through the front door moments later. They joined the proudly grinning women in the middle of a pool of armor-clad bodies. Link then had a good look at the fifth person in their company and was pleased to recognize Rion. "Thanks for the help there," he said.

"Saw the buggers march past my shop. Knew they were up to no good so I came to lend a hand," Rion replied, grinning at the irony of his words. Hanging by the blacksmith's side was a large iron hammer held in a thick shadowy tendril extending from his right arm. The ethereal shape wavered for an instant and the makeshift weapon fell with a heavy clang. The blacksmith muttered a curse and reached down to pick it up, "Still getting used to this thing."

"Doing pretty well so far, I'd say," Midna said, sweeping her gaze around at the big man's handiwork. Rion chuckled in response.

Midna's idea to replace Rion's mutilated limb was to construct a new one using shadows. The two spent much time together as Midna labored tirelessly to train her latest student. Through a great deal of effort, Rion had become able to use his new skills to resume the work he loved in record time, even if he commented that the quality of his products had decreased somewhat. He still had some difficulty in controlling the substitute arm precisely, as well as maintaining its shape and solidity, but practice would be the solution to each of those problems.

"So any particular reason these louts are here?" Rion glanced at the fallen soldiers. A few of them squirmed feebly where they lay, groaning pathetically as they teetered in and out of consciousness.

"Long story short; Teryll wants our magic and is getting desperate," Ilia answered. "I think he hoped that superior numbers would help them capture us, not that it did them much good."

The blacksmith gave a slow nod. "Sounds like it might be time to skip town. How quickly can you get ready to move?"

"Shouldn't be too long," Link said. "Cleaning the house out will only take a few minutes for us. Then we need to fetch Ana and grab our horses."

"But what about you and your family?" Midna then asked Rion. "The guards are going to be coming after you as well, especially since you've brained some of their comrades."

"Never said we were staying," the metalworker replied. "I've got a wagon but I'll need a bit of help loading it up. Got some equipment and keepsakes I can't bear to part with."

Link nodded once and turned to his beloved. "Midna, go with Rion and give him a hand. I'll take care of things here." He then looked at his remaining two companions. "Ilia, Chris, you two run to the stables and bring the horses ready to go."

He watched as the group divided and the pairs hurried off in opposite directions. Link then re-entered the house to fulfill his own task. He went through the place systematically, snapping out of existence everything worth taking. Food, clothes, linen, utensils, personal valuables, they all went. Link left the furniture since much of it was old or in poor condition, and would only be excess baggage. Once he was done, Link double-checked to see if there was anything that he missed.

Using his magic to carry so many things on his own was tiring, Link had long since learned. The larger and heavier an object was, the more physically demanding it was to stow, although it was far less effort than actually carrying it. It sort of felt similar to hefting a pack full of rocks on his back. Like building muscle, practice had enhanced Link capabilities but holding the contents of an entire house was still no small feat. Not for the first time, he wondered how Midna had coped with lugging around the various items they collected on their quest, particularly the iron boots, spinner and ball with chain. Even after all the time that they had been together, he still knew little about his girlfriend's true limits.

With nothing more to do, Link waited for his friends to return. It wasn't an easy thing as the swordsman's mind pestered him with concerns for their safety. He told himself again and again that they could handle any trouble they met. Logically it was Link who was in the most danger. He was completely alone, and if any more soldiers came then he was sitting in the most likely place they would strike. Link only wished he could believe in that rationale.

Minutes later the clattering of hooves brought Link to his feet, sword in hand. Peering outside cautiously he was relieved to see familiar faces. He walked out into the street and watched as Ilia and Chris rode up on Chance and Nicker respectively, Epona trailing close behind. The third horse cantered without rider or lead for she could be trusted to follow Ilia on her own initiative. Had she not, Link could have easily called Epona by blowing his horse whistle. The swordsman climbed atop his mare's saddle and led his companions to meet up with Midna. At the forge, Link's heart caught in his throat when he discovered three limp bodies of Greywal guards lying in their own blood.

He leapt from Epona's back and ran towards the fire-damaged structure. "Midna!" Link shouted with panic in his voice. "Midna!" He scanned madly around the workshop but found much of the interior bare.

"Link, over here!" he heard the twili call. The swordsman turned to see Midna step out from the house next door. By her side she held her sword, its blade red with fresh blood. Link ran up to her and pulled her into a fierce embrace. When Midna hissed in response he pushed back and noticed a red stained strip of cloth wrapped tightly around her upper arm.

"Farore, you're hurt," he exclaimed. He caressed the wound tenderly in his hand, rubbing the discoloured spot with his thumb and finding it damp and cool to the touch.

Midna pulled her arm from his grasp and looked at him with a gentle smile. "I'm fine. It's just a flesh wound. I thought I'd get some sword practice in when those stragglers showed up."

Link shook his head. "You should have been more careful," he chastised.

The twili gave a slight frown then punched him on the shoulder. "Well thanks for the praise," she said sarcastically, "Come on, three against one with only a minor injury? Even you have to admit that's impressive."

Link scowled at her but his pride finally got the best of him. "Okay," he cracked a smile, "I guess that was pretty good." He then became serious again. "How are things here?"

"Ilia!" a tiny voice cried out as Ana came rushing out from the house. The farm girl knelt down and pulled her into a tight hug. "Thank the goddesses you're alright," Ilia sighed.

The child looked up at her surrogate mother, her fringe falling over her bright blue eyes. "Midna said we're leaving. Is it true?"

Ilia brushed the girl's hair from her face. "Yes, sweetie. It's too dangerous for us here now."

"I don't wanna go!" Ana protested. "I wanna stay with Julie!" Ilia was about to reply when Hazel approached with Julie by her side.

"It's okay, Ana." The older woman spoke softly. "We'll be coming with you so you don't need to worry."

Both children beamed though Link turned to Hazel with a sober expression. "Are you and Rion sure about this? You're giving up everything and we have no idea how things are going to go from here."

The blacksmith's wife gave him a smile, a gentle one tinted with sadness. "We're sure. Honestly I can't wait to see the last of this city. Ever since the bomb attack, I haven't felt the least bit safe."

"If we stay and you go then Teryll will probably think of me as his consolation prize," Rion added, appearing from the around the corner. He sat in the driver's seat of a small merchant's wagon. A grey gelding towed the cart and looked as though it was in its later years. The blacksmith waved his shadow hand to push his point. "And don't worry yourself about us. So long as we all stick together it'll turn out alright. It'll be an honor for us to travel with you all."

Link could only smile and nod. "Likewise," he said then faced Midna once more. "So as I was saying..."

"We were just finished when you arrived," she said. "I'm holding most of their belongings but we've loaded Rion's gear in the wagon. There was no way in hell I was carrying that anvil around. Luckily Rion and Hazel don't own too much... No offense, I mean."

"None taken," Rion chortled. "Have less and keep life simple, I say. Pity we can't bring the furnace along. Suppose I'll just have to build a new one later."

Before anyone could say anything else, a shout ripped through the air and drew everyone's attention to the flood of soldiers marching quickly down the road. Their weapons were drawn and their armor clattered noisily as they moved. More soldiers came from the other direction, aiming to catch their quarry in a vice. Link watched one side approach and raised his sword and shield. "Damn, there are a lot of them."

"I've got this," Midna said. She charged a large orb of black and crimson magic then threw it high into the air. The orb then exploded into a cluster of smaller shapes that rained down around the group in a ring of meteors. When each projectile struck the ground, a thin black spire was erected in its place. As the armed forces were closing in, the spikes flashed red and a transparent wall of the same hue connected them to form a giant barrier. While his friends gasped in awe, Link broke a smile as he understood what the twili had done. Never before had he been so glad to be inside a shadow beast trap.

"Nice," he praised, watching the soldiers clubbed their weapons fruitlessly against the ethereal walls.

"Now that we have some breathing room, I can focus," Midna said. "Hang on everyone. This is going to be a little rough." Link's neck hairs tingled in anticipation as felt his body break apart and the world turned black. His sight suddenly returned to him, albeit the city street with the vicious army of troops had been replaced with quiet woodland. Link lost his balance for a split second, having not experienced warping in a long time.

Behind him his companions fared worse than he did. Rion clutched desperately at his seat with his good hand for support. Hazel was on her knees, face as white as a ghost. Chris wobbled slightly as he held Ilia, who moaned as though she was about to be sick. Both Ana and Julie had collapsed to the earthy ground, conscious but too shaky to rise. Epona and the other horses pranced about in a frazzled state yet none had the energy to bolt. Link barely caught Midna before her legs gave out from under her. Her body was slick with light sweat and trembled from exertion.

"Never had to warp so many things at once," she mumbled when he asked if she was okay. Link carried her over to a nearby tree and lowered her gently to rest against its narrow trunk. Then he set out to calm the animals before settling down next to the twili.

While they recovered from their recent ordeal no one spoke a word. After maybe ten minutes, Rion picked his head up to examine the surrounding environment. "Where are we?" he said weakly. Some of the color had returned to his skin but he was still a little pale.

"Emerald Grove," Midna answered in a quiet voice. She tried to say more but failed. Fortunately Link was able to take over now that he knew their location.

"We made camp here once during our travels. There's a village about an hour's ride west from here. Back then it was early winter and we weren't sure whether our supplies would last us until we reached the next town. We set up a portal here just in case we ran into any trouble." 'Not unlike now,' he added mentally. Link closed his eyes and drew a crude map in his head. "I'd say we're two weeks away from Greywal, so we ought to be in the clear."

"Especially since they don't know where we went," Ilia managed to add, lying against a moss-covered stone by a flowing stream. Link nodded in response and leaned back into the tree trunk. All the stress and expenditure of his mana had left him weary. Less so than the others to be sure, but still he was in no hurry to get back onto his feet. Relaxing beside Midna, Link's mind began to wander. Though his thoughts ranged widely, among the foremost ones was that for the time being they were safe.


The moon shone brightly through the forest canopy over the travelers' camp. Although they had regained most of their strength, none of the group of eight felt up to the trek to civilization so they remained below the dormant portal. Once dusk crept in, Link and Chris went out to collect wood and started a fire, which helped to lift their spirits with warmth and a hot meal. Conversation started to flow not long after, most of which pertained to what their next course of action was. While it was largely undecided, there was a unanimous agreement that they would travel in the direction away from the city they had just escaped.

When the hour grew late, the band turned in for what would be a restless night. The shadow magicians slept in their respective tents while Rion's family stayed inside the wagon, after some rearranging of its contents. There was no telling what could be lurking within the darkness, so Link volunteered to take the first watch and sat atop a hollow log with his sword close at hand. Insects chirped and owls hooted but otherwise the forest was remarkably quiet. Nonetheless, Link stayed vigilant, his warrior instincts as sharp as his steel.

"Mind if I join you," said a female voice. Link heard Midna before she spoke and wrapped his arm around her with a smile as she huddled at his side.

"Trouble sleeping?"

"It's not the same without my favorite pillow," she replied, resting her head against his shoulder. "Mmm, that's better."

Link chuckled. He was pleased to see that Midna was feeling more like her old self again. "Some day, huh?"

"You can say that again. So here we are back on the road, living it rough and going wherever the wind takes us."

"Yeah," Link said sullenly. "Even though things went sour a few times, it was nice to have a proper home for a while."

"Maybe next time we'll have more luck." Midna then smirked. "I reckon the boss is going to get pretty mad when we don't show up for work tomorrow. He'll probably fire us. That'll suck." She giggled and Link shook his head. Only Midna could joke about at such at bleak time. On the other hand, it was her lighthearted personality that always diffused the tension whenever it threatened to crush him. It was one of the many things he loved about her.

"Come on, stop being so glum," she nudged him. "We sorted out our lives once, so we can do it again."

He looked to her and managed a small smile. "So long as we stick together, am I right?"

Midna gave him a toothy grin and kissed him. "Exactly."


I want you to bear in mind that like much of the story up until now, the following chapters will be split apart by time skips, some of them many months at a time.

Has anybody noticed yet that Rion is an anagram for iron? I also made a LoZ reference back in chapter 7. It's not too hard to find but see if you can spot it.